41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology
and 9th International Conference on Bacillus thuringiensis

Intimate associations between microbes and eukaryotes are widespread in nature, occurring in every type of ecological niche. The spectrum of such interactions ranges from highly integrated obligatory symbioses to ‘loose’ associations. One of the most common eukaryote-prokaryote interactions is that between nematodes and bacteria. The range of associations between nematodes and bacteria is incredibly broad, ranging from fortuitous to obligate and from beneficial to pathogenic. At present numerous researchers worldwide are studying associations between these two groups of organisms, but these scientists occupy many different disciplines, and often do not interact. The scope of such research is mostly dictated by nematode trophic groups. Not surprisingly, these researchers come from diverse backgrounds in medicine and veterinary science, entomology, plant biology, genetics etc., yet to date no common coherent ground exists connecting the science being done in this discipline, despite the fact that advances in each will undoubtedly inform the others. In this presentation I will discuss an ongoing project on a research coordination network on ‘Nematode-Bacteria Symbioses” which main goal is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations between scientists and to encourage scientists engaged in basic and applied research to explore how cross-talk and networking can enhance and advance science in this field.